1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to livestock handling equipment and more particularly to a squeeze chute for selectively immobilizing an animal in a standing position to safely allow any number of operations to be safely performed on the animal.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In livestock operations it is often necessary to restrain the animals for palpating, immunizing, branding, treating, weighing, loading, etc. Corrals, loading chutes, alleyways, pens, and the like, have heretofore been constructed and employed by livestock operators and veterinarians for these purposes. These structures are often constructed permanently from materials such as stone, barbed wire, wooden rails, steel pipe, and the like. However the capital investment required for such permanent structures is often prohibitive to ranchers having small operations, particularly those that operate their livestock on small isolated tracts of grazing land. Furthermore, many such ranchers lease, rather than own, their grazing land and naturally wish to avoid making permanent, fixed improvements.
A common solution to this problem is to physically transport the livestock to a remote location having the necessary equipment. However, transporting a herd of large animals tends to be relatively time-consuming and expensive. A round trip from the grazing pasture to a treatment facility requires loading, transporting, and unloading the animals twice. Naturally, the time and expense associated with transporting livestock increases with the distances and number of animals involved.
A disadvantage with many prior art portable animal handling devices is that large animals can be hazardous to workers trying to direct and control them with such equipment. Animals that are unaccustomed to confinement frequently balk at entering confining structures and may even panic. After being restrained, an animal may then suddenly begin kicking or attempt to climb up or back out of the chute. Many of the prior art animal-working structures provide little or no protection from such hazards.
Squeeze chutes can be provided with hydraulic power systems for opening and closing their gates and constricting and expanding their sidewalls to reduce or expand the size of the enclosure in which animals are received. Hydraulic power systems have the advantage of permitting control of the operable components from a single control station. However, these control systems are typically located in a fixed position at one end of the squeeze chute. This can limit the operator""s view of the work being performed on the animal and typically limits the placement of the squeeze chute with respect to permanent structures located nearby.
Prior art squeeze chutes are usually provided with sides that pivot inwardly about their bottom ends in order to squeeze livestock. Since the distance between the sides at the bottom must conform substantially to the width of the animal, this type of chute requires adjustment in the spacing of the sides if both large and small animals are to be handled. It is also difficult for large animals to enter or be driven into the chute because its width at the bottom is barely sufficient to accommodate the animal. In addition, the manner in which the sides pivot tends to shock or excite the animal and often causes the animal to lose its balance. The construction of the sides of existing squeeze chutes presents an additional problem in that the sides obstruct access to much of the animal""s body, making examination and other operations on the animal difficult.
Another problem with many prior art squeeze chutes relates to the operation of their gates. Squeeze chute gates often include a pair of panels, which are pivotally mounted on the squeeze chute frame so that they traverse arcs when they are moved between their open and closed positions. This motion tends to swing the panels into the faces of the animals, contributing to the animal""s stress and sense of distress.
During particular treatment operations, the head of the animal must be firmly held in place to avoid injury to both the animal and the operator. For example, the application of ear tags, implants or other medicaments in the animal""s ear is accomplished more safely if the animal""s head is substantially immobilized. The same is true during the examination of the animal""s eyes, ears and teeth. It is further preferred that the animal""s neck be fully exposed and nearly motionless when taking blood samples from or making injections of any kind of serum into the animal""s neck.
The present methods of substantially immobilizing the animal""s head all require substantial physical effort by the operator. Nearly all of the methods include use of a stanchion either fixed or formed as a part of a portable chute such as those used for de-horning. The animal is held in the stanchion to keep its body confined. Then, a tray or platform may be placed under the animal""s head, which is pressed against the tray to hold it in place. An alternative prior art method uses fixed length arms, which extend outwardly from the stanchion gate. These arms are typically not adjustable and generally need to be used in combination with a nose ring and rope. If the animal becomes excited when this method is used, it is necessary for the operator to hold the head until the nose ring can be inserted and the rope tied before the desired operation can be carried out.
Prior art squeeze chute designs typically limit the operator""s ability to safely enter the rearward end of the chute, behind the animal, without compromising the physical restraint of the animal. Furthermore, such prior art designs are incapable of selectively immobilizing the animal""s hip area without increasing the transverse squeeze pressure exerted by the opposing sidewalls. Accordingly, even if the operator is able to enter the chute behind the animal, simple animal husbandry operations are made difficult if not dangerous.
As the animals are worked, some may have a tendency to lie down or even collapse under the surrounding conditions. Prior art squeeze chutes typically do not provide for a method of selectively and adjustably supporting the animal""s abdomen. This not only increases the difficulty of working the animal but compromises the safety of the animal.
What is needed is an animal working apparatus that provides working accessibility to an animal confined therein while assuring relative safety and comfort for both the confined animal being worked and the operators who are working the animal.
The portable squeeze chute of the present invention is provided for restraining livestock during any number of operations, including branding, vaccinating, artificially inseminating, de-horning, or the like. The chute is generally comprised of a frame, an entrance gate, an exit gate, opposing sidewalls, and a base having adjustably removable sections. The sidewalls are connected to the superstructure such that they are selectively positionable along generally horizontally oriented axis, which extend transversely to the chute. The sidewalls remain parallel as they move equidistantly toward one another to provide equal squeezing pressure to both sides of the animal.
Each of the opposing sidewalls is comprised of a plurality of lower panels, which are pivotable about generally vertical axis at the lower extremity of each sidewall to provide access to the lower portions of the animal. A lower panel latching mechanism selectively retains the lower panels in a closed configuration. The lower panels have planar inner surfaces to avoid providing footholds for an animal positioned in the chute.
The opposing sidewalls are each further comprised of a plurality of removable upper panels, which are pivotable about a generally vertical axis between open and closed positions. The upper panels provide access to the upper portions of an animal positioned in the chute. Upper panel latching mechanisms selectively retain the upper panels in their closed configurations.
The entrance gate has a pair of cooperating entrance doors, which are interconnected so that they synchronously slide along a generally horizontal axis between open and closed positions. As the animal enters the chute, the entrance doors are closed to prevent the rearward movement of the animal. The exit gate is positioned opposite the entrance gate and is provided with opposing doors, which are adapted to selectively abut the sides of an animal""s neck. The exit gate doors are interconnected such that they synchronously slide along a generally horizontal axis. When the exit gate is closed, the animal""s forward and rearward movement is prevented and the animal can be safely worked. When the exit gate is opened, the animal""s forward motion is no longer restrained and it is free to exit the chute.
A pair of elongated neck-stretchers are pivotally mounted adjacent the top portion of the exit gate. When the exit gate is in its closed position, the neck-stretchers can be selectively extended in an arcing direction to engage the lower rearward portion of the animal""s head to immobilize the same.
A hip-immobilizing arm is provided for selectively restraining the hip area of the animal. Once the hip area of the animal is restrained, the operator can enter the squeeze chute through one of two rear doors that are mounted to the frame of the chute between the entrance gate and each of the opposing sidewalls. In this position, the operator can safely perform several procedures at the rear of the animal.
A hydraulically powered, roller chain assembly is provided for mechanically operating the opposing sidewalls, the entrance and exit gates, the neck-stretchers and the hip-immobilizing arm. A central control station is provided, which allows a single person to easily operate the squeeze chute. The control station is disposed at the end of a pivotally mounted boom to allow the operator to control the chute from nearly any position around the chute.
An elongated abdomen support is removably secured to the floor of the squeeze chute, between its entrance and exit ends. The abdomen support prevents the animal from laying down while it is being worked. The height of the abdomen support is adjustable to accommodate different sized animals.
It is one of the important objects of the present invention to provide an improved livestock squeeze chute which includes upright sides that remain parallel at all times and are moved equidistantly toward one another to squeeze the animal equally from each side.
Another important object of the invention is to provide a squeeze chute which is able to accommodate both large and small animals without the necessity of structural changes or adjustments.
An additional object of the invention is to provide a squeeze chute in which both the squeeze and release functions of the chute can be fully operated easily and rapidly by a single man from either side of the chute.
A further object of the invention is to provide a squeeze chute having side doors to provide the operator with easy access to the interior of the chute behind the restrained animal.
An additional object of the invention is to provide a squeeze chute having easily openable and removable panels and doors on the sides to facilitate access to the entire body of the animal.
A further object of the invention is to provide a squeeze chute having structure that prevents the restrained animal from climbing out the top end of the squeeze chute.
An additional object of the invention is to provide a squeeze chute having a removable abdomen support that is adjustable in height to accommodate animals of different height.
A further object of the invention is to provide a squeeze chute having removable floor panels.
An additional object of the invention is to provide a squeeze chute having floor panels that are comprised of a plurality of horizontally and vertically spaced traction steps.
A further object of the invention is to provide a squeeze chute having a device for selectively restraining the hip area of the animal.
An additional object of the invention is to provide a squeeze chute wherein the restraining functions are hydraulically powered to allow a single operator to restrain the selected animal.
A further object of the invention is to provide a squeeze chute having a hydraulically powered, roller chain assembly for easily and efficiently operating the restraining structures of the squeeze chute.
An additional object of the invention is to provide a squeeze chute that selectively restrains an animal while reducing the incidence of injury to the animal and operator alike.
These and other objects will be apparent to those skilled in the art.